Talking About Shuttin' Up

Fox and Friends today (Sept. 1) acknowledged the Shut-Up-a-Thon that took place outside of Fox headquarters yesterday was news. And it certainly was news to E.D. Hill.

Co-host Hill objected to the protesters shouting "Shut Up, Fox," because there have been volunteer lawyers in the protest crowds all week to protect demonstrators' free speech rights. Apparently, she thought this was ironic.

Co-host Steve Doocy noted that "Technically it was called a Shut-Up-a-Thon."

"Was it?" asked Hill.

Where has she been? If groups were planning to protest outside my office, I would definitely want to know what it was all about. But that's just the difference between a newshound and the finely honed news judgment of a highly paid national television show host.

Just to prove the network, if not Hill, was up on the latest news happening on the sidewalk outside, the co-hosts stressed that Fox has a story about the protest on its website.

"This is not something we're hushing up," claimed co-host Steve Doocy, although he never mentioned the movie Outfoxed as a motivator for the Shut-Up-A-Thon.

Maybe not, but they're definitely spinning it, following the usual Fox formula for dealing with demonstrations: Interview protesters and claim they don't know what they're protesting about, then never mention what the protest is actually about, while ridiculing the people who are participating by trying to pick out anybody who doesn't look like a Republican to make demonstrators look like freaks.